In the Sherlock HOlmes story, "The Man with the Twisted Lip"
at the scene of a crime, "wax vestas" are found.
Not long ago, I posted about "loco focos", strike anywhere matches. I suspected "wax vestas" were different brand of the same thing.See def. 3


Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Definition: \Ves"ta\, n. [L. Vesta, akin to Gr. ? Vesta, ? the hearth
of the house, and perhaps to Skr. ush to burn (see East), or
perhaps to Skr. vas to dwell, and E. was.]
1. (Rom. Myth.) One of the great divinities of the ancient
Romans, identical with the Greek Hestia. She was a virgin,
and the goddess of the hearth; hence, also, of the fire on
it, and the family round it.

2. (Astron.) An asteroid, or minor planet, discovered by
Olbers in 1807.

3. A wax friction match. --Simmonds.

Very clever name for a match--derived from the mythology.

Tangent: I saw a great hearth once at an estate house in which Vesta had been honored. There was a stylized serpent in the artwork and I wondered about the connection between this goddess of the hearth and the serpent. I don't suppose anyone here knows?

The genius paterfamilias (a sort of spirit double of the head of the family) was often portrayed as a snake.

Bingley

Ah! How very interesting, Bingley. Powerful symbol, the serpent, and moreso now considering that it had been associated with the head of the household.